Tilemap

Collision on a Tilemap In a tile-based game, collision detection isn’t just about object-to-object overlap; it’s about checking if a moving sprite is trying to occupy a tile marked as solid (e.g., a wall, water, or rock). The Core Logic: Before updating a sprite’s position, check the Tile ID at the new (target) location. Step 1: Converting Sprite Position to Tile Index The first challenge is converting the sprite’s precise pixel coordinates (X, Y) into the coarse array index needed to read the tilemap. ...

The Tilemap Concept A tilemap is a technique that breaks a large game world (the map) into small, reusable graphic squares (tiles), typically $8\times 8$ or $16\times 16$ pixels. Why Tilemaps are Essential: Memory Saving: Instead of storing the pixel data for the entire map, you only store the data for a small set of unique tiles (the tileset) and then store the map itself as a small array of tile IDs (indices). Fast Rendering: The CPU can draw the screen by reading the tile ID from the map and using that ID as an index to quickly look up and draw the corresponding tile graphic. The Map Data Structure The map data is a simple, linear array stored in memory. ...